Crushproof reinforced paperboard package with liquid-tight liner and method of making same



Dec. 10, 1946. H, F, WATERS 2,412,547

CRUSHPROOE REINEORCED PAPERBOARD PACKAGE WITH LIQUID-TIGHT LINER AND METHOD 0E MAKING SAME Filed 1360.718, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR BYHar/y f Wa/ers Dec. 10, 1946. H. F. WATERS 2,412,547

CRUSHPROOF REINFORCED PAPERBOARD PACKAGE WITH LIQUID-TIGHT LINER AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME vFiled Deo. 18, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l f/ 2M- a* I J3 /y/ .Q1/v1 I l 7 25', 3 l f I 28- lf/ l (l l I '5g' :11m- A 6 Hof/yf.' Wa/ers A BY v s2 7911 70 'a2 y 7 4 3 5, u 2. e 1 m 4, .r 2 n H mmm WMS E 5 GG .AN KI MK Pm m? a BOl mmm PES. AAMl wP D. www FC D .mnd HFNG NIl T Li E F RT H FG OI OT R- PD HT. SU UQ RI CL Dec. 10, 1946.

Patented Dec. 10, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CRUSHPROOF REINFORCED PAPERBOARD PACKAGE WITH LIQUID-TIGHT LINER AND METHOD F MAKING SAME 1 Claim.

tothe point where substantially 100% failures are y the ordinary expected result. This fact, has left .the eld of liquid packaging to sheet metal cans and glass bottles. While various attempts have been made to use liquid proof bags in paper-board boxes, the results have been uniformly inefficient.

It has now been found that paper-board con- .tainers or packages, including corrugated cartons, can be adapted for packaging liquids by providing the packages with reinforcing sections, and forming liquid-tight, oversize liners therein, which may be associated therewith under conditions such that the sections of .the liner, which usually burst upon impact, are left unsupported or floating so as to be freely movable, when displaced by crushing or distortion of any segment of the container, resulting from impact.

It is a feature of novelty of the present invention to provide a novel, liquid-tight, reinforced cellulosic container, which is capable of resisting crushing stresses due to impact and without bursting.

It is a further feature of novelty of this invention to provide novel, composite, lined, paperboard cartons and carton blanks adapted .to be erected as a unit, and flatfolded for easy shipment, and 4being further adapted for final erection, packaging and closure Without requiring extraneous aids or materials.

Yet another feature of novelty of 4the present invention is a process for making reinforced, burst-proof, liquid-carrying lined paper-board cartons having liquid-tight bags or liners differentially supported on and by .the package, and characterized by complete detachment of the liner at corners and free areas contiguous to the distLrtable areas of the cardboard.

Another feature of novelty of the present invention is the provision of a paper-board canton blank having oversize side wall sections adapted to be folded iover on a back wall panel and adhered thereto, the back wall -panel serving as a reinforcing support or bracket member for the finished package assembly.

These and other desirable features and advantages of the present invention will be described in the specification, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, certain preferred embodiments being delineated by way of example only, for, since .the underlying principles may be embodied in other specific package structures, it is not intended -to be limited to the ones here shown, except as such limitations are clearly imposed by the appended claim.

In the drawings, like numerals refer -to similar parts throughout the several views, of which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a die-cut, paper-board carton blank having oversize side wall sections, and provided with a liquid-tight liner blank, shown thereover in phantom view;

Fig. 2 isa plan view of the blank of Fig. 1 folded over on its median transverse axis to form a fiat-folded lined package blank;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the structure of Fig. 2 with the oversized lateral edges of the carton folded over into abutting engagement and juxtaposed to the cooperating panel wall.;

Fig. 4 is a partial elevation of :the bottom end of the flat-folded package of Fig. 3 as squared up, and before sealing the bottom ltabs in place;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the package of Fig. 3 erected into open-mouthed package-filling position, and

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the package of Fig. 5 showing the top of the carton in sealed condition.

Referring now to the drawings, the carton blank, as shown in Fig. l, comprises a continuous strip of paperboard material I0, divided along a transverse median fold line Il, into cooperating or mating sections 20, 40. These sections are provided with front wall panel sections 2|, 4I joined by a bottom section 30 having a median fold line Il, previously described, and having angularly disposed lateral cuts 3|, defining angular tabs 32. Panel 2| has two laterally appended side walls 22, 23, separated or delineated from the panel by score lines 24, 25. Oversize side Wall panels 26, 21, are formed integral with the side wall sections, and set off therefrom by score lines 28. Side walls 22, 23 are formed with central longitudinal score lines 29. A pair of transverse score lines at the top and bottom of panel 2|, and numbered 5I, 52, respectively, set off a pair of upper tab members 53, 54, and a central tab and supporting section 6D and bottom tab sections 55, 56. Tabs 53, 54, are generally rectangular in shape, and abut when folded into end closing."A position. The length of tabs 53, 54, 'is predetermined by thelength of liner which' is to be heat-sealed, as shown. The lower tab members 55, 56 are provided with angular cut-out sections 51, which are symmetrically disposed to provide a desired clearance.

The other half, 40, of the carton blank has a central panel section, 4l, as previously noted,

and a pair of lateral side sections 42, 43 set oil! from the panel by the longitudinal score lines 24, 25, previously described. The inner ends of sections 42, 43, are chamfered as indicated at 44. A transverse score line 46 separates the panel 40 from the bottom segment or panel 30. The terminal ends 41 of the side walls 42, 43, terminate in angular portions 41a, and the sections are separated from the body of the panel by a transverse score line 48, terminating in. angular notches 48a, which score line also sets off an end panel or closure 49.

As noted in Fig. 1, a liquid-tight sheet member is superposed over and on the package blank I0. This liner sheet, which is adapted to form an internal liquid-tight bag, is appropriately cut to size, and, as shown, is of substantially the same length as the carton blank in extended, fiat position, and the side edges 1| thereof extend completely over section 40 and over the main portion of section leaving slight marginal sections 12, 13 along side wall sections 22, 23 of blank section 20.

.To insure the proper maintenance or retention of the liner sheet in predetermined position, during the forming and filling operations, and to provide the necessary floating edges or corners in the finished carton, the carton blank 20, and particularly the panel sections 2 I, 4|, and the side wall sections 22, 23, may be provided with strips or dots of adhesive, 80, along the longitudinal and the transverse edges, While the bottom panel 30 may have transverse sections 82 disposed on either side of the median fold line To prevent undesired puckering up of the folded-over liner sheet, with a concomitant failure to secure a leak-proof seal at the edges 1| of the sheet, angularly disposed slots or cuts 3|, defining angular tabs or reentrant portions 32, are preferably formed at the end of the relatively short fold-line ii. When folded over on line Il, the sections 32 will be spnmg out and away from the fold line, permitting the liner 10 to expand or bulge out immediately, and preventing the propagation of any puckers out to the edges of the liner. This feature is more clearly shown and claimed in my application, Ser. No. 440,770, filed April 28, 1942. These strips of adhesive mai1 be printed in place, or may constitute separate strips applied to the cardboard carton, or to the liner, the carton and the paper back of the thermoplastic sheet being thus permanently joined by a strong bond. 'This adhesive may comprise any of the well-known glues used for such purposes.

A particularly novel and critical feature of the positioning and use of the adhesive strips resides in the formation of free corner sections on the several panels, which free corner sections are designated generally by the numeral 85. It will be seen that the over sheet or liner, 10, will be adhered to the carton blank, and held in position at the several panel sections and tabs of the latter. It will be seen further that the free corners of the panels will also define the corners of the finished package or box, which corners, as indicated hereinabove, are the zones or 4 points susceptible of greater damage upon impact of the finished package.

The complete lined or surfaced carton blank may be processed or manipulated to form a. complete package in the manner delineated in Figs. 2 to 6, inclusive. Referring to Fig. 2, the carton blank is shown folded over along fold line with the faces or panels 4| and 2| in juxtaposition, and the edges 1| of the liner sheet extending out over sections 22 of the side wall members. The folded over carton sheet is then subjected to heat and pressure along lines 90, 9|, at the edges of the liner sheet 10, so as to interfuse and join the abutted thermoplastic edges of the liner sheet and form a bag of fiat shape, having a folded over bottom along the seam or score line i l, and being permanently joined thereto by adhesive strips 82.

After the flat-folded bag section has been made, the entire outer surface of panel 4| may be provided with a plurality of adhesive strips 92. The lower tabs 55, 56 of the side walls 23, 24 may be spotted with adhesive, designated generally as 94. With these adhesive strips, or sections, or lines in place, the side panels 22, 23 are severally folded along their median fold lines 29, so that the marginal panels 2B, 21 of the carton blank section 20 are folded over on panel 4i and into engagement with the adhesive strips 92, being permanently secured thereto, as by pressing, to give a fiat-folded carton blank having a liquid-tight bag liner formed in place, all as indicated in the showing of Fig. 3. It will be seen that in folding over of the panel sections 22, 23 on their median fold lines 29, the lateral sections 14, 15, of the bag liner are folded over, as shown in Fig. 5, to bring the seamed edges away from the central fold line of the bag, indicated generally at 16. The folding over of lateral sections 14, 15 of the bag liner give a bellows-construction to the bag liner and forms it as an essentially oversize liner or filler for the carton or container, which when filled with the material to be packaged and sealed will be rigidly held in the carton due to its substantial oversize. Furthermore, the expansion permitted by the bellowslike folds 16 permit a great deal of motility to the inner liner and enable it t`o adjust itself to all positions and conditions resulting from impact, so that any stresses or strains set up in the package are substantially self-compensating.

The blank of Fig. 3, which comprises a fabricated at-folded carton having an integral, liquid-tight bag liner formed in place therein, will be adapted to be shipped in this folded, knockdown, condition, with a resultant saving of space, and transportation charges. It will be noted further, that given necessary aseptic conditions in the initial fabricating steps, or where the thermoplastic face of the liner sheet may be provided with applied or incorporated antisepticizing compositions, the package of Fig. 3 in its flat-folded condition, will provide a substantially sterile package,particularly suitable, in small sizes for the packaging of both fresh and concentrated fruit juices, and, due to its fiat-folded condition adapting it for packaging and shipment in nat-folded condition, the danger of contamination of the interior of the bag is substantially eliminated. To preclude any possibility of the infiltration or injection of contaminating matters into the interior of the bag liner in its fiat-folded condition, the bag or box liner sheet 10 may be cut slightly oversize along its length to permit the sealing of the mating top edges in a transverse closed seam which would hermetically seal the bag liner. the excess top edge of the liner could be cut off to permit opening and filling of the package.

When it is desired to erect the flat-folded package of Fig. 3 into open, material-receiving condition, it will only be necessary to pinch the flatfolded package along the fold lines 29, to bring the carton into the substantially squared-up position shown in Fig, 4. By this action the liner is automatically erected into position, and being glued to the folded over bottompanel section 30 erects the latter into its normal, flat position. With the wall sections '22, 23 now in flattened side wall-forming position, the end tabs 55, 56, are folded along fold line 52, over onto bottom wall 30 and adhered thereto by the adhesive 94, thus completing the forming and squaring up of the bottom of the package. The vertical walls of the package will erect the bag liner into the open mouth position shown in Fig. 5. This package may then be lled with any fluent material, either particulate solid, or liquid, and desirably while maintaining the package in pinched condition as set forth more fully and claimed in my application Ser. No. 338,852, filed June 5, 1940. Thereafter the bag top may be hermetically sealed in any suitable sealing machines, such as disclosed in my patents 2,262,480, of November 11, 1941; 2,252,105, of August 12, 1941; 2,239,133, of April 22, 1941; 2,220,873 of November 5, 1940, and, after suitably folding into and on top of the box as described in my prior patents, 2,228,647 of January 14, 1941, 2,223,754 of December 3, 1940, the package is closed by folding over tabs 53, 54 on top of the bag liner, and tab 49 thereover, and completing the closure by adhering cover 60 thereto by suitable adhesive, indicated generally at 95.

It will now be appreciated that there has been provided a novel, reinforced, paper-board package having a self contained and automatically erected liquid-tight bag liner, which is permanently joined to the main panel walls of the package, but is unconnected or floating at the When ready for usel corners of the finished package, so as to proing bag corners will be self-adjusting and will not burst. It will also be appreciated that the novel method herein permits the formation of a lined carton or package in which the complete package is formed from a composite laminated web or sheet, and folded over and adhered into a flat-folded carton having a unitary liquidtight bag liner formed therein in flat folded condition, the whole being adapted to be shipped and transported in suchat-folded condition and erected when it is to be lled. It is also to be 'noted that due to the fact that the liner sheet is adhered to the reinforced carton blank in a predetermined, discontinuous manner, so as to leave substantially free uncemented edge sections at the several panels, the completed package will have free floating corners of the inner bag, that is, the bag liner will not be adhered to the package at the corners, with the result that the completed package, particularly when lled with liquid, will be capable of meeting all standard impact and barrel tests prescribed for shipping containers.

Having now particularly described and disclosed my invention, what I desire to claim is:

A composite laminated sheet for forming flatfolded packages, comprising a paper-board carton blank having longitudinal and transverse score lines defining a pair of front and back main panels with a connecting bottom panel, a pair of side panels and top bottom closure flaps, a liner sheet over the carton blank and substantially coextensive therewith, the said liner being secured to the carton blank at the several panels only and free of attachment at the corners of the panels, a half main panel-size tab attached to each side panel foldable on and securable to the back main panel, and lsubstantially half bottom panel-size tabs attached to the side panels and centrally foldable therewith.

HARRY F. WATERS. 

